Poison doesn't always come in a pretty glass vial
by The Real Arthas
Summary: A corrupted mind, soul, and body plague a young Arthas Menethil torments not only himself, but all of those around him. Trials, tribulations, and anguish follow Arthas every step of his path to drift through life. (Modern Azeroth AU.)
1. The vial is formed

Arthas Menethil was a strange young boy. Matted, unkempt dirty blonde hair covered his head, and his rugged, worn down face if he let it. Pale blue eyes, dangling eyelashes and holding up bags under themselves was Arthas' most prominent feature, as he always seemed to be looking past you, or perhaps into you. Arthas never focused quite on you, rather, he focused around you. Stray details floating about you were more important to him rather than who you were. He cared more about your favorite color, more about what style of pencil or pen you used to write, than what you enjoyed to do. The mundane things one would decide upon in mere moments or subconsciously, Arthas relished those moments.

Despite his attention to people though, Arthas was a quiet, yet creative lad, but he rarely talked to others, and those he called best friends, called him acquaintance in return. For, in truth, that's all Arthas had. Acquaintances, classmates, and, for lack of a better term, enemies summed up all of Arthas' relationships. No one paid Arthas much attention, why would they? To some, Arthas was completely insane. They would listen, and immediately ignore everything that Arthas ever said, for no real reason other than how dull, and unimportant they found him. Truth be told, the boy in the oversized, dollar store leather jacket, who wore combat boots that matched his thousand yard stare, was not in fact a decades long gone fashion statement, but instead a reflection of his life. Arthas was, in a literal sense that isn't mainstream, at war. Constant battles with his family, with himself, and with others at school had left Arthas broken, dissociated, a hollow, thin husk of a person. He cared not where his next meal came from, he cared only to follow the mundane routine that was his daily life, and those small, almost indelicate facts about people.

Arthas' daily life was surprisingly consistent. He awoke when his mother would loudly bang on his door, he'd get dressed, grab his book bag, and leave for school. Arthas wasn't leaving much of a home behind. At the time, a simple desk brown desk with two drawers and a chair in front of it held his computer. White walls, with light lime green banishings made the framework of the room, and besides a closet that held barely five outfits, and a few outfits for school, the only other thing in Arthas' room was two mattresses on the floor, and an air conditioner in the window. Arthas walked to school which, despite how short the walk was, he considered to be the best part of his day. The peace and quiet, the feeling of freedom he had choosing which road to take to his school, both of which got him there at the same exact time, seeing other people, acknowledging them. For someone as reclusive and hidden as Arthas, truly he wanted, and nearly craved human interaction.

Arthas attended his classes, but mostly slept through them as he rarely got sleep at home, and truthfully none of the learning material was engaging enough for Arthas. English kept him awake, as he liked studying new stories, World History had turned out to nearly be a repeat of past studies, Math was far too simple for Arthas, and Chemistry was basic memorization. He signed up, after arguing and fighting with his mother to allow himself to take Astronomy 101, which he was fascinated by, and also a drawing class. Arthas somewhat enjoyed the drawing class, yet his teacher, as great as she was, tried to force Arthas to draw "realistic". Arthas knew his strengths in drawing, and knew he could, if he wanted, become a great cartoon artist, and he enjoyed that thought.

Arthas was allowed to leave school at lunch every day, which most children would be happy for, but Arthas didn't care for. Once lunch came around, Arthas made his way to the school cafeteria, and ate the same lunch every day. Others were offered, but Arthas simply didn't have the energy to go outside of his normal routine. Most of the time, it was a cheeseburger, with fries, and a chocolate milk. Nothing extra, nothing less. Once he was done eating, Arthas left the school, and walked home. Up until now, you might be asking yourself, why was Arthas so depressed? Why did Arthas seem as if he wanted to not exist, as if there was no point in life? Allow me to paint you a picture of an unremarkable, ordinary day for when Arthas arrived home.

Arthas walked through the door to his house, and looked over towards the dining room that adjourned the living room. He gave his mother, who was already into a whooping 32 pack of beer, a weak smile.

"Hey mom." Arthas called out softly. His mother returned the favor by slowly sliding her eyes over, and huffing at Arthas before downing a quick sip from her beverage can. Lianne was a plump figure, yet rather short. Shoulder length flat and brown hair, that curled up at the ends hung from her wrinkled, droopy face. She was drunk, again, as she was most days when Arthas came home, and for some reason or another, she was inexcusably pissed at her son. Arthas hung his head a bit as he walked across the living room, and down the hallway, away from his mother. He entered his blank, void room and sighed. Arthas set his school bag down by his bedroom door, and closed the door quickly, before changing clothes. He slipped into a easy to wear pair of gym shorts, and a t shirt. Simple, bland. He gathered his clothes up, and emptied the pockets of his jeans before walking towards the other side of the house. He didn't bother to look at his mother as he passed her, still in her usual drinking spot, in a corner with her pack of beer in front of her, and her cellphone in hand. She looked up at Arthas, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Varian drive you home?" She asked blandly, before looking back to her phone's screen.

"No." Arthas replied quickly, stepping past his mother and through the kitchen, taking his clothes into the washroom, and putting them into the washing machine.

"Why not?" His mother questioned, yet her tone giving away that she didn't really care.

"Varian and I don't talk anymore." Arthas loaded the washing machine as he spoke, before starting to head back to his room. Lianne made another huff, with a hint of amusement and gave an almost trademark smirk, and that was the end of their conversation. Truth be told, when Arthas moved to this school, he had met Varian almost on the first day, and the two of them hit things off quickly. Varian loved to talk, and while Arthas was quite shy, he replied to Varian, and listened to him intently. Arthas laughed at Varian's jokes, and they hung out, or as best as they could, after school. Arthas started to not eat at the school, and instead used that money to go to various restaurants around town with Varian to eat. Arthas had made a real, actual friend, one who actually considered Arthas a friend, and Arthas was happy.

This was, until Arthas made the mistake of trying to bring Varian to his house, to hang out. Arthas and Varian had hung out before, and Varian's house, and while Arthas had taken precautions, he had told his mother and stepfather about his friend coming over in advance, and wanted things to be perfect. Yet, the night went on just like it always did in his house, and Varian ended up never talking to Arthas again. It began when Arthas and Varian were playing a shooter game, one that Arthas couldn't remember the name of, nor did he particularly like it, but Varian did, and for that, Arthas loved to play it with him. They were deeply into their game, and enjoying it when suddenly there was a loud bang from the front of the house. Arthas looked up to his door, and instantly knew what was happening. He closed his eyes for a moment, before sighing and pushing himself to his feet.

"Pause, give me a second." Arthas mumbled out, a sad, disappointed frown forming on his face already. He had hoped and prayed, yet knew in the deepest parts of him, that tonight would go as it did.

"What was that?" Varian asked, as he looked up at Arthas curiously.

"Nothin', I'll be back soon." Arthas said dismissively, before leaving the room.

He walked up to the front of the house, and ignored his mother and stepfather bickering and arguing already to look for his sister, and step brother. He located them, huddled up together in his sister's room. Arthas popped his head through the curtains that formed the doors for Calia's room, and smiled.

"Hey, you two stay in here for lil' bit, ok?" He said softly, nodding at his siblings. They looked up and nodded back at him, and turned to check on his parents. He was just in time to reach out and grab a candlestick that his mother had reared back to hit her husband with, and jerk it from her hands. "Stop that." Arthas growled out, throwing the candlestick on the ground hard, causing it to break while he glaring at both of them. "You want to do this, let me get my friend out of here." He said, rage, and battle in his eyes. They of course, ignored him, and Arthas let out a silent sigh. He thought over what to do, and how to do it. One one hand, he had to make sure that his parent's didn't actually kill each other, which was a serious matter, as they could. A joke to some, but when you fight off a mother wielding a knife, and tear a muscle keeping your stepfather off your mother, Arthas learned that it wasn't a joke.

On the other hand, Arthas had to make sure his siblings were ok. He needed to keep them as happy as they could be, given the current situation. He also had to play defense, keeping the fighting between his parents contained to just the two of them, and not letting it spill over to them. He'd done this several times, by escorting them to the bathroom, getting them food or drinks, as often their parents would forget to feed them, or even destroy food in their fights.

Lastly, Arthas had his best friend Varian in his room. He wanted to keep Varian safe, but also, at all costs, he wanted to keep Varian as a friend. He looked at his parents, and turned to walk down the hall quickly, opening the door to his room, and giving Varian a weary look.

"You've gotta go." Arthas said in a sad sigh. Varian looked up at Arthas confused.

"Uh, ok. Everything alright?" Varian questioned, standing up and looking at Arthas with confusion.

"Yup. Everything's fine. You just have to go." Arthas said, pausing. "And you need to go out the window." Varian cocked his head back, and gave Arthas an even more confusing look.

"Through the window?" He asked, glancing over at it. "You've got an air conditioner there, wh-"

"I know man, just… You've got to." Arthas said, already walking over to the window, and opening it. He lifted his air conditioner, and set it inside, giving Varian a sorry look. Varian looked at Arthas, and glanced up towards the front of the house before sighing. "Well, been a pleasure man." He said, his tone giving away how weird this was. Arthas couldn't talk, but simply nodded, and closed the window after Varian left. He watched, and made sure Varian got into his truck and drove off, before letting out a breath of relief.

Arthas stood still for a moment, and stretched his head to the side. Three distinct pops came from from his neck, and he took in a sharp breath through his nose. A physical reaction, to his body getting ready for the nightly battle he was about to face.

Arthas walked up to the front of the house, and glared at his parents, who were now quiet. His stepfather, who was fighting only to defend himself, looked up at Arthas curiously.

"Done playing with Varian?" He asked curiously. Arthas' mother huffed, and snorted as she shook her head. His stepfather rolled his eyes, and waved her off.

"Varian left." Arthas said coldly, turning to glare at his mother. "He nor I found it pleasant for him here anymore." Arthas' stepfather gave him a curious look.

"I didn't see him leave." Lianne said questioningly.

"He went out my window." Arthas said, keeping his eyes on his mother. She turned, and glared at Arthas, as if personally offended.

"You kicked him out through the window?" She slurred out. Arthas walked over, and grabbed the edge of the table, his nostrils flaring as he gave his mother a look that could kill.

"No, I put him out through the window so he wouldn't see the sad disgrace I have for a mother." Arthas growled out. His eye flinched, a nervous response to getting ready to be slapped, yet when Arthas grew old enough to hold his mother back, she stopped trying to be physical with him. Instead, she simply scoffed, and shook her head.

"Well I'm so sorry we interrupted your play date." She said, in a mocking tone. Arthas glared at her for a second more, and let out a growl like sigh.

"Have the kids eaten?" Arthas asked, looking over at his stepfather. His stepfather simply, shrugged, and looked to Arthas' mother.

"They eaten?" He asked.

"You mean to tell me you don't know if your children have eaten? What kind of sad, sick father are you?" She growled out to her husband. Arthas rolled his eyes, and left them for a moment to go to his sister's room. His sister looked up at Arthas, giving him a sorry look.

"We've eaten Bubba." She said, referring to him by a pet name she had for him. Arthas nodded, and sighed.

"Good. Want some water or something?" He asked, looking over the both of them. They both shook their head, and Arthas nodded, quickly walking back up to the front of the house.

Arthas spent the rest of the night mediating the fight between his parents. He let them curse and yell at each other, occasionally checking in on his siblings. Once his stepfather finally got tired enough to go to his bedroom, and his mother was nearly passed out, Arthas retired to his bedroom. He looked over at his school bag, and thought of all the homework inside of it that needed to be done, and glanced at his computer. He chose the well travelled path for him, and sat down, to try and dull his senses. He scoured and drifted over the internet, before logging onto his favorite game, and playing until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

And tomorrow, Arthas would start the routine over again. Except, from now on, without his friend Varian. He talked to Varian, the next day after school. Arthas thought long and hard on what he should do, and decided to tell Varian the truth. Varian listened, and he understood, and while Varian did try and keep in contact with Arthas, Arthas let things drift apart between them. Not because he didn't want Varian's friendship, but he didn't want his parent's lives to infect Varian's. Arthas was trying to be kind, he was trying to be caring, yet he appeared cold, almost dead inside.

Four years later, and Arthas hasn't changed much. He's living with his single mother, his sister, and his grandfather. He still has his thousand yard stare, he works construction on occasion with his grandfather, and Arthas is still a dead husk of a man. Except, there was one thing different. The mental trauma that Arthas endured for four long, dreadful years had left it's toll on the young man. While no one around him could certainly tell, Arthas was in fact extremely mentally ill. He had anger issues, he had social anxiety, paranoia, multiple personality disorder, and sometimes, on occasions, hallucinations. Arthas, at times, felt as if there was a demon living inside him. He never heard voices outside of his mind, but he could talk to a voice inside of his mind as long as he liked. It was the voice of the demon he thought resided in him. Knowing all of that, you must understand that Arthas is ill. So when I tell you that Arthas has killed people, you must forgive him.

It was a cold, and raining night when Arthas rode into town in his '93 red Camaro. There was a local pool hall that he visited sometimes, yet he only played with himself, as he still had no friends, but he had fun regardless of the solitude. It was usually empty, save for the owner of the place. Tonight, however, wasn't the case. An old familiar face had decided to go to that particular pool hall that night, with another friend. Arthas immediately recognized Varian when he entered, and averted his eyes. Varian, thankfully or perhaps unfortunately, didn't recognize Arthas. Varian was far too busy playing his his friend, and enjoying a beer to care. Arthas picked out the table furthest away from Varian, and started to play. Arthas was, usually, a very average player. Tonight however, he was distracted by his old friend. He played badly, and got angry with himself. With every missed, or terrible shot, Arthas cursed at himself mentally. Soon, his anger overcame him, and he was forced to mentally dissociate from the situation. This was how poor Arthas' mental state was. He'd received no treatment, no attention or kindness, Arthas was, in almost every sense of the word, unstable.

Arthas continued playing many, many games. He'd decided to try and catch Varian as he was leaving, and wanted to wait for them to leave. He played while keeping an eye on them, and when they started to leave, Arthas closed his table up. He walked outside, and found Varian walking into the nearby woods. The town was old, and run down, and far far away from the fancy high school they attended. It was in the country, and tall, thick woods covered the landscape, and it wasn't very uncommon for people to cut through woods to get to their homes, if they lived nearby. Arthas cleared his throat, and tried to get Varian's attention, but failed. He frowned, and kept walking.

"Hey." Arthas called out softly, unable to see the pair of earbuds in Varian's ears. Arthas frowned more. Varian was ignoring him, or so Arthas thought. He closed his eyes as he walked, and stretched his neck, popping it three times, and exhaling sharply out through his nose, as he quickened his pace, following Varian into the woods.

The next thing Arthas could recall is the blood. There was a lot of it. Blood stained his hands, the knife in Arthas' hand, and most importantly, the confused look on Varian's face. He had finally recognized Arthas, but only after his throat was slit open. Arthas hung over him, with his friend's blood dripping and marking him, and took in a deep breath. The iron in the air stung his mouth, but he let his breath out slowly, and assessed the situation. He looked down, and realized Varian was still alive, and thought quickly. He stared at Varian solemnly, and raised the knife. In one quick, deep thrust, Arthas finished the job he never wanted to start, in hopes of ending Varian's pain. He closed his eyes, and if it were possible, he would have shed a tear over the shuddering, choking body of his former friend below him, but Arthas had lost the ability to cry long ago, after what seemed to him like eternal emotional jarring. He stood slowly, and looked up. He could hear a nearby river, and after not immediately recognizing the part of the woods, looked down at Varian. He sighed, and slowly made his way towards the river, dragging the body along with him before he got to the edge of the water, and started to pile rocks on top of Varian's body. He lifted it, and carried it out to the middle of the river, which was thankfully chest deep for Arthas, and dropped him. To this very day, the splash and feeling of relief from dumping his friend Varian's dead body into the river stays with Arthas. Arthas spent the next few minutes covering Varian's body with the heaviest rocks he could find, before he started to clean himself off. After Arthas was sure he had completely rid himself of all the blood on his clothing, face, hands, and weapon, he turned to walk back through the woods. As he walked, he tried his best not to pay attention to his surroundings, though it seemed every tree had eyes, and every one of those eyes were judging in terror.

He had apparently chased Varian very far, Arthas thought. It took Arthas a good twenty minutes of walking to exit the woods. When he did, he glanced around, making sure no one spotted him, or trying to see if anyone did, before quickly making his way to his car, trying to seem as innocent as he could. It was stupid, but all Arthas could think is that right now, in the dead of night, an officer had already found Varian's body and could already prove that Arthas had killed him. Arthas got into his car, and sat there for a moment, calming himself, and letting out a slow, shaky and stuttered breath. He reached up and clutched the steering wheel, his breath quivering, and his arms shaking. He closed his eyes, and took another slow, shaky, and stuttered breath before an unnatural calmness swept over him. He drove home slowly, yet didn't take every precaution, as a normal criminal would leaving a crime scene. Arthas seemed, in almost every single aspect, normal, yet he definitely was not himself.

Arthas arrived home to an empty house. He seemed confused, only for a moment before realizing that everyone else was spending the night at a relatives, due to a cousin of his playing baseball late. Arthas walked inside of his house, and sighed. He shook his head slowly, before making his way to his own room. Quickly, Arthas changed out of his attire, and into more comfortable sleeping clothes. He took the clean, but unmistakably dirty clothes to the laundry room in the house, and put them into the washing machine. He added soap, as normal, but also added a fair amount of bleach. Arthas wasn't entirely sure if adding bleach would remove traces of the crime, yet the clothes themselves were faded and easily could have burned them, he easily could have tossed them away, and while he did put careful consideration into that whilst driving home, he ultimately decided that destroying them would seem far more incriminating than bleaching them. Arthas, despite being extremely remorseful, and ultimately not caring about his own life, for some reason or another did not want to get caught. He knew he could easily pass as insane, and be put into a mental institution, though he questioned if his faked ability to pass as insane was a sign that he wasn't crazy, or a sign that he was, and, as Arthas tossed himself onto his bed to drift off to sleep, and try to forget for a few fleeting hours his crimes, he didn't truly care if he was crazy or not.


	2. The vial drips empty

Cold, shaky, dry hands clutched and pulled bits and pieces of cracked flesh and wry hair. Shivering. Cold, yet sweating. ' _Heart's beating too fast, it's too fast, calm it down. Slow the heart_.' Arthas thought, before he forced himself to take in a large, deep breath, his mouth nearly painfully dry as he did, before forcing it out slowly through his nose. Arthas stared down at the bed, wide and teary eyed as he whimpered. Every time he shut his eyes, every time his hands weren't touching something, memories of Varian's bloody neck, and the warm, trickling, inky blood washed over him. ' _Lock it away, lock it away!_ ' He nearly yelled in his head, letting out a strained, sobbing whine. Arthas took his balmy palms and pressed them against his face, sliding them down against his face slowly as he looked up. He had called in sick for work earlier, claiming to have hurt his ankle too badly to work. He was sitting on his thin, dirty mattress in a dark room. He could easily turn the lights on, but everything agitated him at the moment. Arthas gasped, as he nearly forgot to breathe, before closing his eyes briefly. He shook his head, and burrowed his eyebrows. ' _What caused this?_ ' He thought to himself, taking in a sharp breath through his nose. He sat up straight, and swallowed hard, thinking. He quickly assessed himself, and his mental state. He was decaying, and he could tell he was. ' _Why am I like this, why am I like this, why am I..._ ' Arthas paused his thought, trying to thoroughly and truthfully describe himself. ' _Why am I cold, shut out, violent, angry, unstable?_ ' He asked, frowning. ' _Distractions. I need distractions.' He thought, nodding. 'Something I can push myself into, to escape. I need something that will make me forget everything when I need it to._ ' He said, swallowing and nodding. Arthas thought, taking a moment of relief to be thankful that his flashbacks hadn't returned, before looking around. Arthas spent the next few minutes, going over every facet of his room, and multiple ideas inside his mind. He spotted his computer, and thought, before getting out of bed. Perhaps finding a new, engaging video game would be, at the very least, a temporary relief.

Arthas walked over, and sat down at his computer, reaching over to boot it up, and leaning back in his chair. He was exhausted, though he was unsure why. Everything seemed slow to him. He glanced down at his dirty, dusty table that held his keyboard and monitors, of which he had two, and frowned. ' _I should clean this._ ' He thought to himself, frowning. The moments seemed to take minutes for the computer to start, and when it did, Arthas quickly logged on. He glanced down at himself, disgusted with what he saw, before looking up and staring at the monitors. He waited for the computer to load up, before opening his internet browser, and pausing. ' _How do I look for a game?_ ' He thought to himself, before opening his favorite search engine. He sighed, and stared at the keyboard before quickly typing away. 'Types of online games' He searched, before studying the browser. He clicked on the first link, and read through it. Arthas read about several different types of games. It wasn't until he read about MMORPGs that his interest was caught. He clicked on a link that lead him to a list of several top MMOs, and read over them.

The one at the very top of the list, Realm of Battle, seemed very well done. It was an older MMO, by what the site said, and you did have to pay for it. Arthas didn't mind that part so much. Truthfully, he had quite a lot of money saved up, as he didn't pay rent, and only a few bills, since he lived with his grandfather. He glanced over the article, and decided to try the game out. He went to the game's main website, and read over it slowly. After creating an account, and buying the game, he started the download, before his face fell.

"You've got to be kidding." Arthas mumbled out, as he saw the whooping eight hour wait time for the game to be ready. Arthas rolled his eyes and sighed, before getting up, and walking back over to his bed. ' _I guess I'll just play it tomorrow.'_ he thought as he laid there, staring up at the still dark room, which his eyes had adjusted to by now. Arthas continued to lay there for a few, long moments, before yawning. He stretched slightly, and closed his eyes, making a soft noise of comfort and relief, before drifting off to a much needed sleep, and started to dream.

Arthas gasped as he found himself surrounded by trees. He looked around, without turning his head, and seemed confused. This place seemed familiar, but he couldn't place why.

"Please." Arthas heard a distressed voice call out. Arthas tried to look forward, but couldn't. Arthas found himself unable to move his body at all, instead he could only stare at the ground. He felt himself moving, yet Arthas knew he wasn't telling his body to move. He was walking forward, and he could hear someone trying to rush away. Arthas felt himself unable to do anything, he wanted to see what was happening, he wanted to talk, but instead all he could do was stare down at the cracked, dry leaves as he walked over them. Arthas was panicking at that point, but he couldn't show it. He felt his head lift, and with it so did his eyes, eager to try and see what was going on. When Arthas looked up, he was met with a bright, red, blinding light, and Arthas couldn't help but to yell out.

Arthas awoke gasping, and crying again. His bed was nearly soaked with how much sweat he was giving off, but he shivered. He reached over, and grabbed his phone, wincing and squinting as he checked the time. Three thirty in the morning. Two full hours before Arthas needed to be awake and ready for work. Arthas groaned, and leaned his head back, frowning and whimpering. He turned and got out of bed, slowing pulling some pants on, before starting his morning routine.

Arthas' now mundane morning routine was quite simple really. A trip to the bathroom, with a stop on his way back to his room to grab a glass of something to drink, usually orange juice. Once back in his room, Arthas got dressed fairly quickly. His daily work outfits were very similar. One pair of jeans he wore and washed every day, with a different shirt depending on the weather for the day. If it was cold, he had a long sleeved, blue button up shirt, and if it wasn't cold, he had a short sleeve grey button up shirt. Truth be told, Arthas hated his job. He hated every aspect, of every part of it. Nothing appealed to him when it came to anything not digital, and even on the computer, not many things kept Arthas happy. Distracted, is a better term for what Arthas felt all day, every day. Regardless, Arthas got himself dressed, and made his way outside and into his car. He sat there, in the driver's seat, and put his hands on the steering wheel. Against his intentions and wishes, Arthas' thoughts drifted back to the night with Varian, an entire week ago by now. A long week, filled with nightmares, and panic attacks.

Arthas shook his head, and cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus on the day's work and shove aside any thoughts of that night. He pulled out of the driveway, and headed down the road, a small gas station his destination. It was a place Arthas went every morning to get his breakfast, and a snack for the day. It was small, and served an actual breakfast surprisingly. Not something that would normally be found in a gas station, not something that would have been sitting on a counter under a lamp for a few hours.

It was 5:53 in the morning when Arthas pulled into the gas station, just as he did most mornings. He got out of his car, and went inside the small, wooden almost cabin like structure. He greeted the attendant, and told the cook what he wanted whilst he got himself some drinks for the day, and a snack. He walked over, and sat down at one of two tables. A place for people to eat in at the gas station, if they so wished. Arthas usually didn't eat there, preferring to get to work as soon as he could, to get the day over with. Once the cook brought Arthas his food, he went and paid for his things, remembering to leave a tip for the cook as he did most days, before Arthas left the gas station. As he walked through the parking lot, he pulled his phone out and decided to check the weather, to see how rough today would be. He cringed upon seeing that the high of the day would be in 87 F, and let out an exasperated sigh. It was 6:07 in the morning when Arthas already wished that the day had never existed, and when he got back into his car. He set his food on the passenger's seat, and started to drive off to the work site.

Arthas didn't look forward to much in his day to day life. In fact, even when given the chance for free time, to pick and choose something to do that made him happy, Arthas dreaded all of his options. Nothing truly sounded fun to him, and nothing truly entertained him. Out of all the video games Arthas had tried, out of all the various things Arthas dumped his money into to try and make them fun, nothing really kept his attention. Nothing jumped out at him, telling Arthas to dedicate himself to it, and Arthas hated that feeling. Arthas hated how he felt like an insignificant, unimportant drifter. He was a jack of all trades, so to speak, and he dreaded it. He was never truly good at anything, but he wasn't extremely terrible either. Arthas felt completely, totally average in all regards to his life, and felt that since he couldn't do anything to make himself stand out, he wasn't worth trying to stand out, and wasn't worth being recognized.

Arthas arrived at the work site for his construction company, and sat in his car. He could see the foreman already there, and waved to him from his car, before grabbing his food. Arthas usually ate in his car, a place of solace and quiet for him in an otherwise loud, and busy work day. Arthas ate his food slowly, trying to savor it as best as he could, and sipped from his store bought drink. Today it was a soda, something caffeine free. Arthas didn't know why, but caffeinated drinks upset him, and made him feel sick if he drank them while working, so he was forced to drink what he could. Right before his time started, Arthas got out of the car, and stretched slightly. He yawned, and shook off whatever tiredness he had, before going out and starting his day.

Arthas fell to his bed hard, exhausted after the day. Carrying lumber, up to fifty pounds at a time all day, and nailing them all in after they were cut. It seems quite dumb, but it can exhaust someone easily. Arthas turned to his side, starting to undress himself from his work clothes. He frowned, and sighed with content as he got his boots off his feet, and his socks off, freeing his feet. They felt constricted most of the day, and he took a moment to move and wiggle his toes around, before sitting up on the edge of the bed. Arthas stood, and slowly, and carefully got himself undressed, down completely naked before he slipped into some casual, comfort clothes. He grabbed his outfit, and slowly made his way to the washroom, before stuffing his clothes into the washing machine. He added some soap, and turned the machine on after closing the lid, before going back to his room. He sat down, almost absentmindedly and completely out of habit at his computer, before turning it on. He sat there for a moment, staring at the screen, before remembering the video game he started to download last night. Arthas searched, and found the desktop icon, before clicking it, and loading the game up.

Realm of Battle started, and Arthas was greeted with a intricate, almost life like cinematic covering the game's current expansion. Arthas sat there for a moment, trying to remember his account information, before logging on. The game automatically enlisted Arthas onto a realm, and brought him to the character creation screen. Arthas looked over it slowly, humming in thought. There were two factions to choose from, the Federation, and the Legion. Arthas didn't care too much about the factions at the start, and instead looked over the various races. His interest was peaked by a race that appeared to be a mix between a human, and a rhino. Pachyos, as they were called, were tall, stood up higher than the other races, and was much more bulkier. A large horn protruded from the character model's forehead, and its eyes were deadlocked ahead. Arthas decided to pick that race, and looked over the classes. He went over each one available to the race, and was stricken with crusader. Arthas huffed with amusement to himself, imagining a huge rhino walking around with a sword and shield, calling itself a crusader for purity, as the game described it, and choose that class.

Arthas, surprising even himself, actually was enjoying himself playing the game. He spent hours on it, completing quests, enjoying his time on the game. He wasn't paying attention at all to the clock, and when he found himself yawning, the tabbed out to check the clock and panicked. ' _Fuck.'_ Arthas mentally cursed, realizing it was far past what he normally stayed up at. He closed the game, deciding to play more tomorrow, before going off, and heading to bed.

Two entire weeks had passed since Arthas started the game. Since then, he had switched from his original character, upon unlocking the Lich class as he progressed. He created that class, and on a whim decided to play as an elf. Arthas spent as much time as he could in the game, grinding out quests, and honestly having fun. One Friday, when Arthas sat down after a day of work to play Realm of Battle, he stopped. He thought for a moment, about what got him into the game, what drove him to search out the game, and to download it. A small wave of anxiety fell over Arthas, but still, he willed and compelled himself to go to the game's forums. Yes, the prospect of social interactions were terrifying to Arthas, as he was afraid he would embarrass himself, and not make any friends, but the driving, longing fear that Arthas wouldn't truly get mentally healthier was a heavier, deeper fear to him. Thusly, Arthas made his way to the forum post, and quickly read over the rules. He searched through the different sections of the forums, finding one that belonged to the realm he played on, after double checking his own realm, and opened it up. Arthas burrowed his eyebrows, as he slowly tried to process all of the new information on the screen, all the different forum posts, and titles. He decided to ignore most of them, and instead searched for how to create a new forum post. He quickly found the link that would take him there, and with a quick click, a new page was brought up. Arthas stared at it for a moment, and took in a deep breath as he thought over what to say.

Arthas typed up a few drafts of the post, each one of them sounding more and more ridiculous than the last. When Arthas finally got a draft of a post he was happy with, he read over it again, slowly, double checking it.

"Hello, I just got into this game earlier this week. I'm currently level 79 on my lich, and am looking for new friends, and new people to talk to and play this game with. My character name is Saethlaen. I'm really close to level 80, and would love to have some friends to play with at max level."

Arthas, happy and content with his message, posted it. He sat back, staring at the screen for a split second, focusing in on it, before shaking his head. He quickly alt-tabbed back into the game, and went back to playing.

Anduin Wrynn sat down at his computer after being out and doing errands most of the day. He was home alone, thankfully, and decided to spend his time playing his favorite game, Realm of Battle. He loaded the game up, and quickly popped open the game's forums to check on them. Anduin truly enjoyed reading the forums, more so than the actual game. Reading about various people's experiences, or just finding a few funny threads, all appealed to him. He skimmed through the pages, not even bothering to select a character yet, and looked at a thread with interest. He clicked on it, and smiled. 'This person seems nice, I think I'll friend them.' He said warmly, copying their name, before signing into the game. Anduin loaded up, and quickly opened the chat box, sending out a whisper to Arthas.

"Hello. You're the guy who made the forum thread, right? The one looking for a friend? :)" Anduin typed out, quickly sending it.

Arthas was currently killing a mob, when he heard a strange noise. He glanced up and around his computer, confused for a moment, before glancing at the chat box. His heart nearly stopped as he read Anduin's message. He finished killing the mob, and stood there, scared for a few moments. Arthas sharply took in a breath, and closed his eyes, clicking on the chat box and opening it.

"Hello!" Arthas started out his message, deciding already whether or not he was being too eager. "Yes, that was me. It's nice to meet you :)" Arthas said, biting his lip and nodding.

Anduin smiled, and chuckled as he read Arthas' message. "Hello :) I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind if I decided to tag along with you while you do whatever you want? I'm kinda bored of running raids and dungeons :P" Anduin replied happily.

"Sure! I'm just doing some quests right now, I haven't quite gotten to max level." Arthas replied.

"Can I add you to my friend's list?" Anduin asked, smiling and pressing the button to summon his mount.

"Sure! I'd add you, but I don't know how to do that yet, haha." Arthas replied. He was feeling strangely giddy with himself. He had friends before, and while those friendships could certainly have turned out better, Arthas felt a tightness in his chest from talking to this random person on the internet. He saw a pop up, saying that someone wanted to add him as a friend, and he quickly accepted it.

"I'm Anduin, by the way." Arthas recieved, and he smiled to himself.

"I'm Arthas, nice to meet you. How are you?" He quickly asked, as he went about his business of leveling up.

"I'm great! A bit bored lol, dungeon wait times are taking forever. What do you play?" Anduin asked, checking his friend's list to see where Arthas was, before starting to fly out to him.

"Oh, I'm a lich!" Arthas replied happily. "I'm only 79, but I've got 10% more experience until I'm level 80. What do you play?" He asked. Arthas sat back in his chair, and truth be told wasn't bothering trying to fight anything anymore, currently too engaged in his simple conversation with Anduin.

"I'm a cleric. I'm addicted to healing :P" Anduin replied, chuckling to himself.

"Oh, a healer? I'm currently a tank specialization. Dungeons and raids need both, right? Maybe when I'm 80, we can do some together." Arthas said, smiling to himself. He glanced at his character, who was currently being attacked, and scrambled to defend himself.

"Yeah, that sounds great. It'd make the queue times go by much faster :)" Anduin replied. "I'm in your zone, where are you at?"

"The Glorious Arena." Arthas replied quickly. "I've got some quests here that I can't seem to do on my own. The enemies are too tough, and I can't kill them alone." Truth be told, Arthas was fighting random, stray monsters around the quest zone, as he couldn't currently kill the bosses needed to complete the quest.

"Oh, silly, that's a group quest :) I'll help you with it though." Anduin said, chuckling to himself.

"Is it? How do you tell?" Arthas asked, seeming confused. He opened up his quest log again, and read over a line. 'Recommended players: [2-4]'. Arthas rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"It should say right in the quest." Anduin said.

"Yeah, I see it now haha. I'm an idiot." Arthas replied, shaking his head. Soon after, Anduin landed near him, and quickly healed and buffed him.

"Hi :)" Anduin said.

Arthas smiled, and remembered something he read online. He quickly typed a command into the chat, causing his character to wave. "Hello! :)" He replied quickly. "Ready to do the quest?" He asked, wanting to make sure Anduin was set up.

"Whenever you are :)" Anduin told Arthas.

"Do you have the quest?" Arthas inquired.

"I've already done it, don't worry." Anduin answered.

"Oh, ok!" Arthas typed out. "I'm going to start it now." Arthas walked over to the quest giver, and started the quest up. As he told Anduin, he had attempted his quest a few times before. Arthas and Anduin went through the quest, which to Arthas' surprise was an entire quest chain. With each quest, Arthas checked his experience bar, and upon getting to the final quest, he quickly typed out a message to Anduin.

"I think I'm going to ding on this next quest. I've got 3% left." He said happily.

"Oh, awesome! :)" Anduin typed back, smiling to himself. "Start it up when you're ready!"

"I will. Great heals, by the way. :)" Arthas replied. Arthas walked over to the quest giver, and glanced down, smiling as he read a thank you from Anduin, before starting the quest. Like all the others, Arthas went and fought the boss, doing menial damage to it. All Anduin had to do was keep a shield on Arthas, and in his spare time, threw damaging spells at the enemy. Once done with the quest, Arthas quickly and excitedly raced back to the quest giver. To his and Anduin's delight, Arthas did indeed level up upon turning the quest in.

"Congrats! :D" Anduin quickly typed out to Arthas.

"Thank you! I couldn't have done it without you hehe." Arthas typed back, smiling and giddy with himself. He glanced down at the time, and frowned. "Can we play more tomorrow? I have to get to sleep soon." Arthas said, already dreading to spend time away with his new found friend.

"Yeah, sure! I should get going as well." Anduin typed back, a weak smile on his face. It was strange, but Anduin was strangely fond of Arthas already.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." Arthas said, forcing himself to smile.

Arthas logged off of his computer, and sat there, smiling. He went over the events with Anduin, and couldn't help but feel giddy about finding a new friend. He let out a slow yawn, and blinked a few times, before shutting his computer down. He stood, and rubbed his face as he made his way to his bed. With a flop, Arthas fell to the bed, and squirmed around until he got comfortable. He reached up, and flicked the lights switch off, and smiled. Something told Arthas, that he was going to sleep better that night, than he had in a very long time.


End file.
